"Isn't Maureen planning on coming back yet?"
Mrs. Smith asked, frowning at her family driver.
Mrs. Smith's feelings towards Maureen were complex.
Although she rationally knew that this child was her biological daughter, the fact that she hadn't seen her at all for the past fifteen years made things incredibly strange.
Any sort of physical contact, such as hugs, felt awkward.
Additionally, she had to take into consideration Bianca's feelings, didn't she?
From a young age, Bianca's health wasn't good and she never fought for anything or anyone.
If she found out that those around her were concerned about Maureen, who had just returned home, wouldn't she feel abandoned?
Hence, during these two years, Mrs. Smith had maintained a distance from Maureen that wasn't close nor estranged.
Nevertheless, no matter what, Maureen was her biological child, even if she rebelled, she wouldn't ignore her completely.
The driver locked the garage and shook his head, saying:
"Today, when I went to pick them up, I only found Miss Bianca and Mr. Chris, but I did not see Miss Maureen at the school gate."
"She has truly become rebellious; she hasn't returned for two days now,"
Mrs. Smith said, looking annoyed.
The driver asked:
"Should I go to school to look for her and bring her back after school tomorrow?"
"Forget it, don't bother," Mrs. Smith said, feeling a little vexed:
"Didn't I just scold her a bit?
She's so quick to run away from home, who has spoiled her like this?
If she doesn't want to come back, leave her be, do not proactively pick her up!
Besides, she did not take much clothing or shoes with her, I don't think she plans on staying at the school for long!"
These were family matters that the driver couldn't comment on.
Mrs. Smith turned around and entered the house.
Today, Bianca had a cultural activity in school and did not return home, Chris did not want to eat either, and was upset about something so he went straight to his room to play video games after he came home.
Mrs. Smith ate a mediocre dinner alone, only noticing that it was missing Maureen's special dish Fried french Rice and chicken chips .
After dinner, while she sat on the sofa watching TV and missed Maureen's shoulder massages, she felt a wave of irritation, and realized that their home seemed slightly empty.
She couldn't possibly degrade herself by asking about Maureen's situation in school directly, so she couldn't resist knocking on Chris's door.
"Did you see your sister at school today?
Did you ask her when she's had enough fun and plans on returning home?"
"I didn't see her.
I'm in grade one. Why would I go to her grade three section?"
Thinking about how Maureen ignored him at lunch in the cafeteria, Chris face stiffened with annoyance:
"Mother, stop asking me, didn't you drive her away from home with your harsh words?"
Mrs. Smith was left speechless and had no choice but to leave.
Once the sounds from outside the door had faded away, Chris turned off his game and opened WhatsApp.
He couldn't understand why Maureen was so angry this time — not only had she not packed lunch for him, but she also treated him like a stranger in school, not even sparing him a glance.
What did this mean? Was she truly planning to run away from home and completely cut ties with them?
Was the recent event really that severe?
Was it not just about Bianca's allergic reaction, where she was scolded a few times by the family?
She didn't say anything when she got burned last time.
Additionally, he had already planned to apologize at noon, but she ignored him first.
Wouldn't it be humiliating if he sent her a WhatsApp message now, continually bowing his head in apology?
However, what if she never comes home again or stops packing lunch for him in the future?
Chris was too disturbed to eat dinner tonight. It simply felt so unusual.
Chris contemplated, upon Maureen's vacant room when he returned home today.
He furrowed his eyebrows and ran his fingers through his hair.
After typing and deleting several times, he finally closed his eyes, steeled his heart, and sent out a message.
"Maureen, what's the deal with you at noon?"
As he sat on his bed with his legs crossed, he stifled his discontent about being the first one to back down, and waited to see how Maureen would reply.
However, what he received was a shocking red exclamation mark.
"…" [You are not yet her friend, please send a friend verification request first. You can chat after the other party verifies it.] "..."
Chris was completely stunned and instinctively dialed Maureen's number.
But the busy tone came through almost immediately:
"The number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable."
She blocked both his WhatsApp and phone number?
Chris almost fell off the bed in surprise, his mouth agape as he stood there in shock.
There were several seconds when Chris's mind just went blank.
Ever since Maureen had come to the Smith family, this was the first time such a thing had occurred.
She had threatened to run away from home before, or insisted on going to a boarding school, but those attempts had mostly failed.
She would usually return, her eyes rimmed red, after two days of being away--Chris knew that Maureen had no place to go after the grandma who had adopted her passed away in a small town in the north.
But this time, she didn't show any signs of wanting to come back.
She even blocked Chris's number.
An idea quickly popped into Chris's mind:
Was he the only one blocked, or had she blocked the entire family?
For some reason, recalling Maureen's indifferent expression when she left gave Chris an indescribable, bad premonition.
Just as he was pacing back and forth in his room, contemplating whether to discuss this matter with his older brother Oliver, he heard the sound of his brother returning downstairs.
It seemed like there was a visitor; their mother was entertaining a guest.
After a short while, there was a knock at his door:
" Richard, has a matter to discuss with you. Madam wishes for you to come downstairs."
Richard was the golden boy who had been winning competition gold medals since he was a boy, and he also had numerous novel robot inventions and awards from Go tournaments under his belt.
Chris felt that he was cold and arrogant, and didn't like him very much.
However, he couldn't help but notice that his parents were always very warm towards him.
They'd even tried setting him up with Bianca previously, but after Maureen came back, the matchmaking naturally changed to Maureen and Richard instead.
However, he didn't often visit their home.
Every time he did, he was as aloof as if someone owed him 8 million.
What on earth was the issue today?
If he didn't go downstairs, his mother was bound to scold him tonight.
Chris frowned.
He had no choice but to set aside the fact that Maureen had blocked her for now, and went downstairs first.
Josephine lived in the same villa area as the Smith family.
Hence, when something happened at the Smith's place at night, it quickly reached Maureen's ears.
Josephine sent a text:
"I heard Richard went to your place tonight."
Maureen was stunned, she and Chris had the same thought, Richard proactively going to Smith's home—was the sun rising from the west?
Josephine's message popped up again:
"Someone saw him looking at Ann in the Evergreen class after school.
Do you think he might have pried some information from Ann, then went to your house to confirm to your parents that Bianca's allergy has nothing to do with you?
You might be able to clear your name!"
"I don't know." Maureen replied:
"And right now, I don't really care what the Smith family thinks of me."
In her previous life, she ended up losing her sanity in a battle of wits with her family, trying to prove her innocence.
But in this life, her mind is clear, as long as she can confirm that the allergy was related to Ann, actually, there should be various ways to prove this to the Smith family.
Whether it be obtaining hospital surveillance or tricking Ann into admitting it on a voice recording.
But the problem was, Maureen no longer cared what they thought of her, so she didn't want to waste time on this.
To her, the concern and trust of the Smith family is like a cake.
In her previous life, she was stubbornly desiring it, but in this life, she felt it was already past its expiry date.
She didn't want it anymore.
However, what could Richard be doing at the Smith family's place?
He couldn't possibly be helping her out like Josephine guessed, could he?
Maureen was in the middle of rinsing her hair when a call came in.
She was unable to answer it at the time.
After drying her hair, she discovered a missed call and a text message from her older brother, Oliver.
She didn't have much contact with Oliver, so much so that she even forgot to add him to her blacklist.
" Richard just came over to our place.
The incident about Bianca seems to be a mistake made by her friend. It appears that everyone was wrong to blame you.
Big Brother apologizes to you."
"But running away from home just because you're a little wronged isn't good, Maureen.
Come back and let's talk.
Mom's been restless these past few days, when are you going to come home?
Big brother will pick you up." Seeing this belated apology, Maureen remained indifferent.
She was just a little surprised. Josephine really did guess right.
However, Maureen felt that it was quite normal after thinking about it.
Although Richard didn't like her and was always cold towards her, they've known each other for two years after all.
They could be considered friends.
And it's not just her that Richard is cold to, he is aloof towards everyone.
Prideful people never tolerate faults.
Maybe he just decided to lend a hand after finding out she was staying on campus.
Even though Richard's effort was unnecessary, Maureen still felt grateful.
Her teenage crush on him in her previous life was not in vain.
Maureen sat on the edge of the bed and with a swipe of her finger, she deleted Oliver's text.
This time, she found and erased all Smith family's phone numbers and Whatsapp contacts.
The world felt tranquil. There is no way she would go home.
Would she go back and repeat the same tragic ending from her past life?
The fact that Bianca was the girl blessed with good luck never changed.
If she didn't seize the opportunity to turn defeat into victory, she'd likely not live past the age of twenty-three again.
Oliver hadn't received a call or a reply message from Maureen, and with a slightly guilty expression on his face, he said to his mother,
"It's already past ten o'clock at night.
She may have gone to bed."
The Smith family looked somewhat embarrassed.
Furthermore, for Oliver, after sending Bianca to the hospital last weekend, they had directly scolded Maureen without knowing the full story.
No wonder Maureen felt wronged, and it wasn't surprising that she had stayed away from home for so long without returning.
"No one in the family really blames her, we just had a word or two!
Moreover, even if Bianca's allergy was not her fault, why couldn't she at least worry about Bianca who was still in the hospital ward, instead of picking fights with us?"
Even though Mrs. Smith looked guilty, she still stubbornly insisted,
"She's still showing such a temper now, threatening to move into the dormitory after just a couple of remarks."
Chris was a little exasperated, "Mom, can't you just say less?"
Oliver, on the other hand, helped her sit down. He said,
"Maureen is just a child holding a grudge, we just need to coax her a little, and I'll bring her back tomorrow.
But after she comes back, you still need to apologize to her.
You're just being stubborn but soft-hearted."
Mrs. Smith frowned and said,
"Alright, this child really has the whole family fussing over her.
We'll talk more when she returns tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Chris moved his lips but couldn't utter a word, because Maureen had already blocked his contact with her.
Was it still possible to bring her back - would she even return home tomorrow?
He looked at his mother, with her guilty and resentful expression, and a thought sprouted in his mind.
Why was Maureen blamed at first when it wasn't her fault?
And why, even after the situation was clarified by Richard, did their mother continue to hold Maureen responsible for not understanding the situation?
What could he do, if this extreme bias was directed at him? Chris was just sixteen, he was startled by the realization the word brought.
The sudden message from Oliver failed to ruin Maureen's good mood at all.
She had finished her homework and, looking at the fruit of her one-day efforts––four neat little sprouts, she felt full of fighting spirit.
She had spent a whole three classes sitting next to Liam in the afternoon, so in theory, she should have absorbed a significant amount of fortune, but the fifth tiny sprout had merely disturbed the soil a bit without any sign of sprouting.
For some reason, she found that the fortune she absorbed by breath did not seem as strong as the first deep breath she took when she saw Liam.
The system explained to her,
"It's the law of diminishing marginal utility.
Your first appearance alongside Liam in the original text means 'the villainous lady met Liam and sat next to him.'
This, to the readers of the original text, is a stimulus that could increase your fortune a bit.
However, if you keep sitting next to him and breathing, the original text can't possibly keep repeating this incident.
The readers would accuse the author of dragging the story, so the fortune you can absorb becomes weaker."
Feeling a little disheartened, Maureen asked,
"Is it the same with other things?
Do they all follow this law of diminishing marginal utility?"
"Basically, yes." said the system,
"Within a day, the effect of the same thing gets weaker each time."
"It's so hard to survive. We always have to innovate."
Speaking of this, Maureen suddenly remembered that she had gotten Liam's bank account details to buy things after school, but she hadn't had the chance to text him.
Feeling spirited, she put a charger on her phone after drying her hair and climbing into bed.
On the other side, Liam, with damp red hair from a wash, lay on the swan velvet bed in the Williams mansion, coldly stared at the cell phone screen for a full two hours.
He really underestimated the transfer student.
She actually spent all his hundred thousand yuan at once.
He didn't care about the money, but the transfer student really couldn't stand a test!
Liam was angry, he couldn't help but look up at the clock, rubbed his dry eyes, and continued to bury his head to stare at the cell phone. It was already eleven thirty.
What was the transfer student doing?
Why did she ask for his Whatsapp but didn't send him any messages?
Other 'sponsors' got at least a
"thank you" after their money was spent.
"Why doesn't he have anything?
Even if he's here for the money, can't there be a little sincerity in pursuing someone?
Suddenly, the phone vibrated once, and a message popped up in the Whatsapp dialogue page.
Liam was startled and dropped the phone off the bed.
He quickly rolled over to fetch it.
The servant's voice came from outside:
"Young Master, are you alright?"
"It's fine, don't come in."
On this side, Maureen leaned against the head of the bed, thought for a moment, and sent a message:
"Mr. Williams, you can just block me."
After sending such a message, the other side didn't reply, and Maureen didn't expect a reply.
She quickly glanced at the potted plant.
Just as expected, the first time was always the most powerful, and a half sprout had sprouted directly.
Maureen was instantly excited and sat up straight.
The other side stayed quiet, but Maureen didn't mind.
She sent another message:
"Good night."
This time, the fifth plant grew by a quarter.
"Oh, right," Maureen asked the system,
"Does the length of the message have an impact?"
The system replied,
"I'm not sure, why don't you try?"
So Maureen randomly tapped on her phone keyboard and sent a message full of gibberish.
This time, the fifth one only grew by one eighth."
It seems that the length and content of the messages sent had no effect on the growth of the seedling.
The only factor that had an impact was the number of messages sent.
Liam, barefoot and holding a hanger, strained to retrieve his cell phone from underneath his bed.
Upon opening the screen, he was greeted by this mess of unknown gibberish.
What was this all about? It felt as if the transfer student was using him as a test account.
After Maureen finished testing all the variables, she sent over another period symbol
"This time, there was no change in the seedling.
From these four tests, Maureen could fairly confirm that only the first three messages of each day had a growth effect on the seedling.
From the fourth message onwards, the marginal effect decreased to zero.
In that case, sending Liam three messages daily should suffice.
After gaining a fair amount of sprouts, Maureen happily turned off her phone and went to bed.
On the other end, Liam resisted the urge to flood her with a series of question marks.
He had to maintain his cool.
A cool and aloof school hunk won't respond to the first five messages.
He would only respond when the transfer student desperately sent the sixth one.
But that night, Liam waited up all night, and the next message never came.
Sporting two dark circles under his eyes, Liam stared at the jumbled texts on his screen, questioning the world.
Could this be another strategy from the transfer student to attract his attention?
A gold digger, after his money.
He decided to block her the following day.